Mavericks try to curb Bulldogs

The Kiowa County Mavericks (5-2) will finish their 2012 season with a pair of home games beginning this Friday against the Attica Bulldogs (2-5). The Mavericks, who have won four straight, had a breakout defensive game last Friday in Langdon against the Fairfield Falcons (5-2), while the Bulldogs have struggled in their past few weeks with a pair of losses against Norwich (2-5) and Cunningham (4-3).

The Kiowa County Mavericks (5-2) will finish their 2012 season with a pair of home games beginning this Friday against the Attica Bulldogs (2-5). The Mavericks, who have won four straight, had a breakout defensive game last Friday in Langdon against the Fairfield Falcons (5-2), while the Bulldogs have struggled in their past few weeks with a pair of losses against Norwich (2-5) and Cunningham (4-3).

The Bulldogs have not made individual players stats available, but the season scoring shows an offense that has been scuffling since the beginning of the season.

The Bulldogs are averaging only about 19 points per game, while opponents are averaging almost 34 points per game, accounting for about a 0.55:1 offense ratio.

A big moral blow came in week 3 when the high ranked South Barber Chieftains invoked the 45-point rule in the third quarter, blowing out Attica 50-0.

Bulldogs head coach Lance Vandeveer has a squad that has endured a tough season and it is only going to get tougher as a surging Mavericks team is looking to make a strong statement going into their final week against the high division ranked St. John Tigers.

The Mavericks offense has shown that they can put points on the board under almost any defensive situation.

The Mavs have averaged more than 30 points per game, with opponents averaging only 22 points per game. While a 50-0 win against Skyline may skew the season statistics, with that win the Mavs are still outscoring opponents, on average, netting 27 points to opponents’ 25-point per game average.

Kiowa County’s 4th quarter offense has accounted for nearly 35 percent of their total season points and opponents are having great third quarters with 3rd quarter season points higher that the first two quarters combined.

Numbers never lie, and statistics for the first eight weeks show that games are won and lost in the second half. The Mavs nearly overtook Macksville in the second half of their week 3 loss, out scoring the Mustangs 24-14 in the third and fourth quarters.

When head coach Clint Young said the season would ride on the defense, he wasn’t just whistling dixie. The defense has turned key games in KC’s favor, most recently last week when a dominant first half defense handed the mavericks a win, despite some second quarter struggles.